"Your task is simple, find what is stopping me from getting to that island, and stop it."

Damadar is the hookah-smoking, jacquard-wearing tiger Rakshasa that hired you and your rag tag group of explorers. He has a great amount of interest in Hot Springs Island, the exact reason why however is unknown. The creature is an extremely powerful and calculating individual, even from the small amount of time you spent on Northspire Island to accept the job you quickly learnt that he had a strong dominion of lizard men which he sent out to the island to solve his problem. So far they have performed less than spectacularly.

At the moment none of the lizardmen (which he calls Arva) have proven good enough, so for now he has extended his reach and is accepting outside help. Though you work under this man he has made it extra clear that his Arva on the Island will likely attack on sight, and that is fine for you to defend yourselves and kill them if needed. As long as you figure out why he cannot see or touch the island, and resolve it.

Though Damadar is not listed as a wanted criminal you expect that is simply because he is so far from society, or that you are on the wrong plane. The man is likely not a nice person, though for the time being he has promised you to provide what you wanted and all sources say he keeps his word.

The Goal

The above is a short blurb of your employer, explaining in minor detail what his dilemma is. Damadar is currently based on an island, named Northspire, however there is another island a few hours sail away named Hot Springs Island. A place of two thundering volcanoes, inhospitable jungle and black sand beaches, from a distance it appears majestic and wild. Up close, it is a death trap.

Damadar however cannot see, or touch, the island. He has sailed to its exact spot, and found only rough water. He has watched his Arva simply vanish as they cross what he assumes to be a boundary, and then to reappear when they cross it again. He is both interested, and infuriated.

The exact reason he is interested in the island is unknown, but he is happy to pay whatever price you want, be it gold, power or information. As long as you help him step on that island, he will make your dreams come true.

The Setting and Adventure

The setting is a system neutral Hexcrawl I have adapted it to the pathfinder rules, you will find many tropes of fantasy have been turned on their head and tampered with, hopefully making an interesting place to explore. The setting is pre made by a man named Jacob Hurst and his team, who calls the island a ‘sandbox of black powder.’ The island is currently is a very delicate status quo, introducing your characters will start creating explosions with the various people, environments and treasures found on the island.

Most of the encounters are random, meaning you will come across monsters, traps or obstacles too hard for you at any one time. There is always a way around something, or moving away, so do not think you can smash your head or fist against everything you see. You will need to play smart, not hard, with many of the things that call the island home.

The game will be based almost entirely on the island, which has unique monsters, lore, inhabitants and history. All of which will be explored as you cut and run your way through the jungle. Each day you spend on the island, you will learn more and more, slowly forming a mosaic of information.

The system I am using will be pathfinder and the world is still Golarion, however we will be basing these island far to the west of Avistan and Garund, the islands themselves will be located near the ruins of Azlant and are known as the swordfish Isle. Though we are playing in the world of Golarion, the adventure is a standalone and won’t interact with the main land much, if at all.

You have one main goal, find out why Damadar cannot get onto the island, and then resolve it. Once that task is complete, then you has essentially completed the adventure. Though it will be a long and hard road, you start with only one real clue and the island is not a forgiving place. I have given you a main plot, and it is up to you to resolve it, I have not made a road for you to follow but I have littered the island with clues and hints. You are expected to dig around and find things to point you in the direction, you are expected to live and survive on the island for as long as it takes, which can easily be months. There will be times when you have no leads, no new information, at that point you will need to kick the hornets’ nest and see what happens.

The game has already been running for about five months, I originally created this game as a solo game for a real life friend. This was to let me play with the setting before bringing it to the table with my local group, I have however decided to extend the number of players to a total of two or three, meaning I will accept one or two more characters.

The Players, Characters and Expectations

The current player has been on the island for one and a half days, with a group of rag tag mercenaries and is currently making their way to the southern part of the island to the ruins of an old Elven city.

When the new players are introduced, they will have been from an earlier team sent to explore the island for the same reason. The group would have been on the island for about two-three weeks, during this time your numbers would have been reduced, until only the new player characters are alive.

This will provide your character(s) some extra information, which will be supplied secretly to you through a private thread.

You will start separate from the current player, but you will cross paths, if you decide to join forces then you can, travelling in numbers is safer. But you are not forced to be side by side at any point, you are welcome to split up and explore the island as you see fit. However, if you venture out alone, the island is not scaled down in terms of danger for you.

There is an information area located in the game forum, this covers NPCs and monsters the current player has come across, however please feel free to read it. I would highly recommend you have a glance at the island map and the various known locations.

Mechanics

For this game we will be using Gestalt building rules, letting you take two classes at every level. If you are unsure what gestalt is, please take a read of this information, you will need to only read the first few paragraphs to understand the build rules.

All core, base and hybrid classes are allowed. I will accept 3rd party (classes/feats/etc) on a case by case situation, for now I am avoiding spheres and Path of War for players.

Below is a quick list for building a character

level 5 gestalt

20 point buy for stats.

Any race can be played if not over the top, the other player is currently a Cyclops.

You are to make a private thread in the applications folder.

As a note, a character sheet does not need to be complete to be accepted. Though I need a clear idea of what you are going to build, and have a rough idea of mechanics.

Though not needed, I would advise you look at the game threads, to see if this is the game you want. My posting rate fluctuates a lot due to my work schedule, I won’t post for 4-5 days, and then can post multiple times a day for 4-5 days.

If there are any questions, please feel free to ask them in the OOC thread located in the forum.

I will be closing this advert in roughly three weeks, giving us a rough date of the 6th of March. If I get amazing applications before then, I might end the application stage a week early.

Any and all questions can be asked in this advert or in the game forum, as things as asked I will record them on the first post of the OOC. So please look there before asking.

Game Description:

A solo small team game based on the Hot Spring Island setting where the team have been hired by a Rakshasa known as Damadar Deodan to discover why the island is hidden from hissights and to ultimately remove this barrier for him.